An Allegory of Man

Allegory of Man was painted over 400 years ago by an unknown artist. Like most religious paintings, it is packed with symbolism. Watch this film to discover the meaning behind the objects and characters depicted in this panel.

This artwork is one of the few religious British paintings to have survived the 16th century Protestant Reformation. Protestant unease towards religious images made it difficult to display works like these. This opposition against iconography or the use of images to depict religious figures is known as ‘aniconism’.